Meaning & use
livability
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The degree to which a place is pleasant and suitable for people to live in.
Grammar: Uncountable; no plural. Use 'the livability of a place' or 'high/low livability'.
Patterns
- the livability of a place
- improve livability
- high/low livability
The city's new parks and bike lanes have greatly improved livability in the downtown area.
Researchers ranked the livability of 50 cities based on housing, transport, and green space.
Residents complained that the new highway would reduce the livability of their neighborhood.
noununcountabletechnical
The quality of being fit or safe to live in, especially of a building or vehicle.
Grammar: Uncountable; often used in technical or legal contexts about housing standards.
Patterns
- livability standards
- the livability of a building
The inspection report questioned the livability of the old apartment block after the flood.
New regulations set minimum livability standards for rental properties, including heating and ventilation.
Common combinations
- improve livability
- Planting more trees can improve livability in crowded neighborhoods.
- livability standards
- The council introduced livability standards for all new social housing.
- the livability of a city
- The livability of a city depends on affordable housing and good public transport.
- high livability
- The suburb is known for its high livability and low crime rate.
Synonyms and how they differ
- quality of life
- A broader phrase about a person's general well-being; livability focuses specifically on the place, not the individual.
- habitability
- More technical and usually about whether a building or environment is safe to live in, not whether it is pleasant.
Word family
- liveable adjective
- Suitable or pleasant to live in; e.g. a liveable city.
- livably adverb
- Rare; in a way that is suitable for living.
Commonly confused: livability or liveliness? livability or likeability?
livability vs liveliness
Liveliness means full of energy and excitement; livability is about being suitable for living in.
livability vs likeability
Likeability means being pleasant or easy to like (of a person); livability is about places.
Practice
The city council is investing in public transport to ______ livability for residents.
Choose one answer.
'Improve livability' is the most natural collocation. 'Increase' and 'raise' are used with numbers or levels, not with livability, and 'grow livability' is not idiomatic.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “livability”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.